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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year! 2015

2014 if anything, you've been a bumpy ride. I wouldn't trade you though! I'll take your ups and downs, your trashy insides and over-hyped outsides. At least it wasn't a boring time to be a "gamer". We died, and much like Gandalf, came back from the brink of time and space, for a higher purpose. Our work here is not yet finished!...or at least as all the "gamer of the year" backpedaling articles have alluded to: they still need your clicks.

Much like a nerdy pubescent teen, this was a huge year for growth inside the gaming community. The dormant zits that had been festering for years finally reached a boiling point and started to burst. It was time for tough, awkward conversations that needed to happen. What we got was different. Lines in the sand. Self appointed "leaders" and moral arbiters took the high ground they had held firmly for years. Instead of that meaningful conversation with us, they got on top of the soap box and began to preach shame and guilt. The whole time thinking they were the adult here to guide and educate us, not talking or treating us how we should be...equals.

The fall of games media came to a head in 2014 and is something I want to talk more about in the future. Who was involved? Who brought it on? Who drew first blood? Brushing the drama off as trolls and clickbait writers is easy to do, but the issues go much deeper than that. I've read so many shitty things on both sides of the gaming culture war. Almost 4 months on people continue to fan the flames in order to keep the page views and click bait up...but if people continue to click, who's to blame?

It's much like the trend of pre-orders and rising tide of unfinished games. If you never do your chores, yet continue to receive your allowance regardless, are you ever going to do the dishes? Anyways, I've ran out of time...I've got to get going for NYE, but I will tell you my New Year Wish: Stop taking everything so seriously. Gaming is, and will always be about fun. I hope people will stop treating it as such serious business. I'm not saying we shouldn't argue or debate or try to push games to be a higher medium. To be honest, I love the drama! It's fun and interesting and keeps you on your toes, but just don't loose sight of why were all here. Fun! So if you're gonna do the drama thing...put a smile on your face at least ;)